My Foray into My Midwestern Roots

Archive for February 21st, 2012

After FamilySearch began digitizing records, I signed up to index records. Then, I took the tutorials and reviewed the instructions. But I didn’t start indexing. I was afraid that a “batch” of records would take too long for me to do. At the time, I had too much on my plate in my personal life.

Lately, I’ve been on a mission to reclaim some ” fun” during the work, study, & regular “stuff” of family life. About a week ago, I saw the teased on the site about helping index the 1940 census when it’s released on April 2nd. And that’s how it started. . .

First, it was just a couple of batches that I did one afternoon. Those Texas death certificates are pretty easy! Then I started dowloading 2-3 batches at a time. Even tried some marriage & birth records – the intermediate ones! And I was having fun & learning a few things. There have been too many infant deaths I’ve run across – from premature births to ancephaly to illness.

I hope I’m contributing as much as those who indexed records I’ve used. I want to give back because I’ve received so much. And I am very excited about the release of the 1940 census. The sooner its indexed, the better for all of us!